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LUCKILY OUR GALLERY WAS NOT SHUT DOWN (WE HAD A CLASS WITH A NUDE MODEL)
- By John Kitsco
- Published 04/7/2012
- Inspirational Stories
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My wife taught high school in a rural area some forty years ago and I determined it might be interesting to open a little art gallery. Quite unusual for the rural areas at the time. I remember picking up large paintings from an older lady named Constance, who was quite a character. Because the paintings were so large I sat in the trunk of the car
and held onto the paintings while my wife drove off to the Gallery. Luckily we were not pulled over for any usual traffic infractions. Next big event was to ask Mary (another prairie artist) whether she would consider posing nude for a small group of would-be-artists in my wifes art class. Mary agreed. What we never even thought about at the time, such an event could have some legal ramifications. So we simply asked the art group to keep the matter quiet and as a result the art classes proceeded without a hitch. This was all like something out of a Hollywood grade B movie. Nonetheless, we were truly making memories for all the participants. Although I wanted to peek into the class, since I was merely the art gallery manager my wife insisted that I had no reason to be part of the class. Ho Hum.
Our little gallery was a buzz of activity for about one year and then the interest began to wane. There were just not enough folks in the area to sustain it.
There was one time I literally locked a customer in the shop to get a sale...yup....not a good plan, but he did in the end buy a reasonably priced painting which covered next months rent.
I wrote a little column for the local newspaper at the time and sold advertising for another little paper which did not last very long. Those were soup days.
We certainly were only at the survival level but you know, those were some of the most fun and exciting times. Even after the gallery shut down...we often thought about the bus loads of Government folks and visitors from the city that came out and yes, sometimes bought pottery or a painting...or the fun part of those who kept silent about a nude class taking place in the back of the gallery.
Constance and Mary have passed on. The building has likely changed to some other business and small town Alberta has grown up a little. Changes are inevitable and if we don't embrace change, it has a way of embracing us...
and held onto the paintings while my wife drove off to the Gallery. Luckily we were not pulled over for any usual traffic infractions. Next big event was to ask Mary (another prairie artist) whether she would consider posing nude for a small group of would-be-artists in my wifes art class. Mary agreed. What we never even thought about at the time, such an event could have some legal ramifications. So we simply asked the art group to keep the matter quiet and as a result the art classes proceeded without a hitch. This was all like something out of a Hollywood grade B movie. Nonetheless, we were truly making memories for all the participants. Although I wanted to peek into the class, since I was merely the art gallery manager my wife insisted that I had no reason to be part of the class. Ho Hum.
Our little gallery was a buzz of activity for about one year and then the interest began to wane. There were just not enough folks in the area to sustain it.
There was one time I literally locked a customer in the shop to get a sale...yup....not a good plan, but he did in the end buy a reasonably priced painting which covered next months rent.
I wrote a little column for the local newspaper at the time and sold advertising for another little paper which did not last very long. Those were soup days.
We certainly were only at the survival level but you know, those were some of the most fun and exciting times. Even after the gallery shut down...we often thought about the bus loads of Government folks and visitors from the city that came out and yes, sometimes bought pottery or a painting...or the fun part of those who kept silent about a nude class taking place in the back of the gallery.
Constance and Mary have passed on. The building has likely changed to some other business and small town Alberta has grown up a little. Changes are inevitable and if we don't embrace change, it has a way of embracing us...
